The 24-year-old's spine was bearing the brunt of her weight gain and she recognised that she had to turn her life around.

Emily, from Northamptonshire, reached her lowest ebb after giving birth to her son Riley, now four, when her eating habits got out of control.

She had a complicated relationship with food as a child and needed to break the self-destructive cycle.

A turning point came when she successfully applied to feature on Channel 4's Shut Ins: Britain's Fattest People.

It proved to be a vital stepping stone, helping her final efforts to slim down before she was offered drastic weight-loss surgery at Royal Derby Hospital. A procedure that changed her life.

Emily back in 2018 with her two boys (Image: Emily Ingold)

She said: "Being a new mum, I grabbed anything I could and that’s where the obsession started with takeaways.

"I had a complete obsession with Chinese and I'd have chilli beef, egg fried rice, chips, salt and chilli spare ribs and curry sauce. When I was eating I would calm down, and afterwards a feeling of regret and disgust.

"I went to my doctor but I was brushed off and told to lose weight through exercise."

When her second son Harry, now two, was born, Emily joined Slimming World "for the millionth time" and managed to lose a stone and a half - which was quickly put back on.

She said: "I felt like there was no way out of it at that point. I was 26.4 stone and eating 15,000 calories a day. I felt awful, then I'd cry and eat again. It was a vicious circle.

"I had an unbelievably painful bad back, my spine was deteriorating like a 60-year-old woman and I would be out of breath washing the dishes - but none of these things motivated me, I just couldn't get out of it. I was scared I was going to die."

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On a whim in March last year, Emily applied to feature on the Channel 4 documentary - and received a call within 10 minutes when the show's producers expressed interest.

Filming started in May 2018 and Emily, who was already nervous about leaving the house, said she was "terrified".

During her first appointment in Derby with leading bariatric surgeron Sherif Awad, Emily was told that she was "super super morbidly obese".

She "burst into tears" as she was told her life expectancy would be reduced by 12 to 15 years if she didn't make a change.

Once Emily was approved for surgery - paid for by Channel 4 - she embarked upon a strict diet to reduce the size of her liver, which meant cutting down to 800 calories a day, making the operation easier and safer to carry out.

Emily used to eat six takeaways a week (Image: Emily Ingold)

Emily said: "On the day of my operation in August 2018, I got teary lying on the trolley and got a bit panicky. Sherif touched my arm and said I would be okay. They couldn't do enough for me there and I knew I was in safe hands."

Emily had three quarters of her stomach removed during the hour-long sleeve gastrectomy, which is currently the most popular weight loss operation in the world.

Surgeon Mr Awad said: "The effect is to help patients to reduce the amount of food they need to eat before they’re full, so they are more satisfied with smaller portions.

"Emily was in a vicious cycle of being obese with low self-esteem, no confidence and tiring easily. Food was her best friend and it was the only thing which gave her comfort.

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"She became near enough housebound and didn’t have enough confidence to undertake normal functions.

"Her only option was for a surgical operation to be her tool to help with the weight loss. She was absolutely desperate in every way."

Mr Awad is keen to alter the stigma associated with obesity.

He said: "The vast majority of obese patients have tried to lose weight with numerous diets.

Leading bariatric surgeron Sherif Awad (Image: Sherif Awad)

"An important thing is that, although these operations cost the NHS money in the short term, the cost is neutral to the NHS in the long term because by helping people to reduce their weight, we are reducing the development of life-threatening medical conditions like diabetes and sleep apnea.

"They transform lives for the better."

He described filming the Channel 4 documentary as a "heart-warming process" which has "struck a chord with a lot of members of the public".

Last year, the Royal Derby carried out 250 weight loss operations. Half of these procedures were sleeve gastrectomys, which cost £5,500.

Around 80 of the sleeve gastrectomys were done privately through Derby Private Health.

The team at the Royal Derby during Emily's surgery (Image: Sherif Awad)

Life after the operation hasn't been easy for Emily - she had to follow a diet for five weeks, and 10 weeks after surgery she completed a 5k park run with her dad Steve.

She said: "I had terrible social anxiety and I was last place, but at least I did it.

"The thought of eating a lot doesn't appeal to me any more. I hate the thought of takeaways now and I'm loving experimenting with cooking.

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"Everything's different now - I can get on the floor and play with my kids and run around in the garden.

"My head demons haven’t completely gone away but I've had therapy and know how to cope if I have a stressful time."

Emily, who is now 20 stone and hopes to lose another 10 through healthy eating and exercise, added: "The support on social media has been really comforting. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have the operation."